A few weeks after Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, Kamala Harris’s candidacy appears to have been a game changer for the US presidential election.
And while the impact has been momentous, it clearly hasn’t been surprising.
It was obvious to everyone that the outgoing President had reached his physical limits. Sadly, time halts for no man, even outstanding political personalities like Biden, who has given everything he has to give.
Kamala Harris was the logical choice—the safest bet for the Democrats to go into the election united.
And her candidacy, with all its undeniable strengths and weaknesses, was duly and triumphantly endorsed two days ago (August 19-22) in Chicago, at the Democratic convention.
The polls look favorable, but it’s still early days.
But in politics, acknowledging the truth of a situation is an indication that prudence has entered the game. We just don’t know yet whether prudence will prove to be enough.
Enough, that is, to prevent the return of a divisive charlatan to the presidency of our planet’s largest and most powerful democracy.
Never mind his criminal record and erratic behavior, one need only recall that Trump recommended bleach injections as a treatment for COVID at the height of the pandemic!
So we all appreciate that the US presidential election is not just one more electoral contest among many.
Of course, the outcome is in the hands of the American people themselves, as it is in every democratic nation.
But its effects are absolutely relevant to the rest of us. Anyone who thinks the result won’t impact on them directly is just plain wrong.
Especially now. When the West’s other main center is not enjoying the best of times.
France is reeling, Germany is faltering, the United Kingdom has jumped ship, most Europeans no longer know what to think, and Putin’s Russia is knocking menacingly at the door. And the gears of the world economy are grinding as war rages in Ukraine and the Middle East.
In this respect, Greece’s stability is reassuring, and we can celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of our own democracy with pride. But what happens in Greece hasn’t determined the course of the world for many centuries.
Which makes the American election even more crucial. For Greece, too.
It may not be diplomatically elegant, but no serious political actor in the West has concealed their concern about a possible Trump victory.
The victory Kamala Harris has now been called upon to prevent.
So the game has clearly changed. It remains to be seen if the outcome has, too.
